Various methods are known for amplifying and detecting specific analytes such as nucleic acids with specificity and sensitivity. Such methods generally require the amplification step to occur before the detection step. Amplifications methods include polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), used for the amplification of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) respectively. And, detection methods for nucleic acids generally include the use of detectable labels, for example, fluorescent labels or radioactive labels coupled to enzymes or antibodies.
Many ribonucleic acid (RNA) amplification methods include multi step reactions, for example, conversion of RNA to complimentary DNA (cDNA) as one of the steps and require multiple enzymes and intermediate purification steps.
Additionally, amplifying and detecting methods require the separation of labeled starting materials from the labeled product, using, for example electrophoresis, or affinity separation techniques.
It would, therefore, be of benefit to provide a method for exponential RNA amplification and subsequent detection that overcomes some of the limitations of known techniques.